Prep Hoops: Bulldogs Draw First Blood
Most things in life you cannot avoid, like death and taxes.
The other is Harrisburg and Eldorado always being a heated rivalry.
The two tangled again Saturday at Davenport Gymnasium, but one trend continued and that was Harrisburg coming out on the winning side, posting a 59-48 victory over the Eagles.
It was the fifth straight win for Harrisburg who hasn't lost to Eldorado since the 2008-2009 season when the Eagles posted an 80-75 victory under then head coach Greg Goodley.
Like every other meeting between the two schools, Saturday's night at Davenport was no different as the two went toe-to-toe for country bragging rights.
The game itself quickly turned into an Elks Hoop Shoot Contest as there were a combined 72 free throws attempted between the Bulldogs and Eagles.
Harrisburg finished 29-for-45 at the foul line, while Eldorado went 20-for-27.
The game, which was tied at 43 in the fourth quarter at the 6:53 mark after a free throw by Adam Ninness, saw the Bulldogs go 12-of-19 from the foul stripe in the final seven minutes and outscore Eldorado 16-10 in the fourth quarter.
Eldorado head coach Josh Bradley didn't divulge the game plan, but didn't shy away from saying that trying to be physical with Harrisburg wasn't in the cards.
"It's kind of the way we play," Bradley said. "When we play sloppy we are in ballgames. It's they way we have to play against teams like Harrisburg. We have to go at (Bahari) Amaya and try to get him in foul trouble and be physical with him to try and take him out of his game. It was our game plan coming in was to go at them and try to get them in foul trouble, be physical. We knew we were going to have to foul, but we thought it was the best chance to win the basketball game and we had opportunities late."
There were a combined 32 free throws between the two schools in the first half as Harrisburg took a 32-28 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs led by as many as nine, 16-7 in the first quarter and withstood a drought in the second quarter where Harrisburg didn't get a field goal until the 3:39 mark on a running layup by Anfernee Houston to make it 26-21.
The Eagles got to within 22-21 with 4:26 to play before half when Nathan Burnett's bucket made it a one-point game.
Bahari Amaya, who had a game-high 21 points, picked up his fourth foul at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter was forced to sit the bench the rest of the way until one minute into the fourth quarter.
That time was an experience that head coach Randy Smithpeters and company hasn't been accustomed to.
"The thing we did tonight which was unusual for us was play without Bahari for an extended period of time," Smithpeters said. "He got in serious foul trouble and there was no question we had to sit him, but I was really happy with the way we grew without him. We took care of the basketball and did some things we needed to do when we don't have him to run the show and do all the things that he does."
Corbin Crim-Harbinson tacked on 11 points to finish in double figures for Harrisburg, while Anfernee Houston added eight points. Isiah Saulsberry and Carson Batts each finished with five points, while Blake Drue had three points.
The Eagles were led by Nathan Burnett's 17 points, while Adam Ninness and Isaac Bethel each netted nine points. Clay Boulds chipped in with seven points, while Adam Partridge finished with four points and Max Kaiser had two points.
Carmi White County 46, Eldorado 40
Carmi outscored Eldorado 19-5 in the fourth quarter to win 46-40 in Black Diamond Conference East action Friday night.
Tucker Gray and Drew Lucas each had seven points in a crucial fourth quarter that saw the Bulldogs pull away with the come-from-behind win.
Eldorado built an 8-6 first quarter lead and led 20-18 at intermission.
The Eagles outscored Carmi-White County 15-9 in the third quarter to take a 35-27 lead into the game's final eight minutes.
Burnett led the Eagles with 15 points, while Ninness chipped in with seven. Bethel and Adam Partridge each scored six points, while Jacob Traxler finished with four points. Ethan Partridge had two points for the Eagles.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Harrisburg 59
Eldorado 48
Harrisburg (11-5)
Name FG 3-pt FT Reb PF TP
Drue 0-2 0-0 3-4 4 3 3
Houston 1-7 0-2 6-11 6 1 8
Batts 2-3 1-1 0-0 2 2 5
Crim-Harbinson 4-10 0-0 3-4 3 3 11
Amaya 4-8 1-3 12-14 4 4 21
Bartok 3-4 0-0 0-3 5 4 6
Bittle 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 0
Saulsberry 0-2 0-0 5-8 1 2 5
Totals 14-38 2-9 29-45 25 19 59
Eldorado (3-8)
Name FG 3-pt FT Reb PF TP
Bethel 2-4 1-2 4-4 0 2 9
Burnett 5-10 1-1 6-8 3 5 17
E. Partridge 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 5 0
A. Partridge 1-4 0-1 2-4 5 2 4
Boulds 2-2 0-0 3-5 0 5 7
Kaiser 3-5 0-2 3-4 1 4 2
Ninness 3-5 0-2 3-4 1 4 9
Traxler 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 3 0
Pilkington 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 14-30 2-9 20-27 12 32 48
Score By Quarters
Eldorado 14 14 10 10 - 48
Harrisburg 21 11 11 16 - 59
Eldorado 08 12 15 05 - 40
Carmi-White County 06 12 09 19 - 46
Eldorado: Ninness 3 0-1 7, Bethel 3 0-0 6, Burnett 4 7-10 15, A. Partridge 2 2-4 6, E. Partridge 1 0-1 2, Traxler 1 2-2 4. Totals: 14 11-18 40.
Carmi-White County: Large 5 2-5 12, C. Vaught 2 2-4 6, Gray 2 7-10 11, Matz 2 0-0 4, Barbre 0 1-3 1, Lucas 4 1-2 12. Totals: 15 13-24 46.
3-point FG: Carmi-White County 3 (Lucas), Eldorado 0. Fouls: Carmi-White County 19. Eldorado 21.